News

CME: Futures End Week Lower as Placements Lift, Friday

22 April 2013

US - Live cattle futures ended the day weaker in all but the front-month contract, and nearby contracts posted slight gains for the week.

Meanwhile, feeder cattle posted sharp losses last week, write market analysts at ProFarmer. This afternoon's Cattle on Feed Report will weigh on live cattle futures early next week, as the report showed more cattle on feed than expected.

At 95 per cent of year-ago, total feedlot numbers were propelled higher by much-higher-than-expected Placements at 106 per cent of year-ago levels.

June cattle closed just 7 points lower on the session but up 55 points for the week. August cattle managed to close higher on the week after a reversal from contract lows on Tuesday, say CME analysts.

The market pushed lower early on Friday with weakness in the beef market and poor weather for grilling season but the market could not push under Thursday's lows and futures traded just slightly lower on the day into the mid-session.

Positioning ahead of the Cattle-on-Feed report for release after the close added to the choppy trade action. Traders also await news in the cash market this week for signs of packer demand.

There are still no deliveries against the April contract and traders see tightening supply ahead but consumer demand concerns persist which has helped to hold futures at a stiff discount to the cash market.

Nebraska cattle traded at $126.00 which is $1.50 to $2.00 lower on the day.

Boxed-beef cut-out values at mid-session were down $.51 to $190.28 as compared with $189.52 last week at this time.

Slaughter came in slightly below trade expectations at 114,000 head.

For the week ending April 20th, slaughter was estimated at 615,000 head, up 9,000 from the previous week and up 16,000 from last year